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1958 Deere Model 440 Backhoe Comes Back to Dealer 60 Years Later

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Tom Benck got a call in 2019 about an antique John Deere tractor outfitted as a backhoe loader that got him excited.

The call was from a field technician at West Side Tractor Sales where Benck is vice president of the family-owned John Deere equipment dealership headquartered in Lisle, Illinois. The technician, Brian Bywater, had been helping a widow by fixing up her deceased husband’s old tractors to prepare for auction.

While going through the dusty old tractors crammed for years in a barn, he made a surprising discovery. A 1958 John Deere Model 440 had a West Side Tractor Sales sticker on it. Bywater got the tractor running and called Benck.

“Hey,” he told Benck, “I found a machine here with our sticker on it.”

1958 John Deere Model 440 backhoe loader West Side stickerThe West Side Tractor Sales sticker placed on the 1958 Model 440.West Side Tractor SalesHe sent some photos.

Benck, who was on the lookout for antique equipment to help show the historical link to the dealership his father started in 1962, learned that the tractor was on its way to auction with the other tractors. He tracked it down, placed his bid and won.

When he got the tractor to the dealership, he made another interesting discovery.

“I knew it had our Westside Lisle sticker on it,” Benck recalls, which would have been the company’s first sticker.

“I didn’t know it had the Adams sticker on it.”

The “Adams sticker” was for Adams Welding & Manufacturing, a John Deere Industrial tractor and equipment dealership in nearby Naperville, Illinois. Adams went out of business in the early 1960s after filing for bankruptcy. 

1958 Deere Model 440 Adams stickerThe dealership that first sold the 1958 Model 440 was Adams Welding & Manufacturing, which went bankrupt in the early 1960s. The Adams sticker was on the tractor, along with Westside Tractor’s first sticker.West Side Tractor Sales

Rich Benck didn’t remember the tractor, having sold thousands during 60 years in business. The family was able to surmise that it had been originally sold by Adams in 1959, then came to West Side as a trade-in in the early 1960s and was sold again.

“He thought that was pretty neat,” Benck says of his father.

It stirred up lots of memories.

“Then he told me about how thin the business was then.”

Deere, West Side history link

Rich Benck founder West Side Tractor SalesRich Benck, founder of West Side Tractor Sales. Benck passed away May 9, 2021.West Side Tractor SalesRich and his wife, Mary, started West Side Tractor in Lisle with a $10,000 loan in a rented 5,000-square-foot block building with three employees. There were few customers and lots of service work.

“They scratched and saved and put it all together and wound up with what turned into West Side Tractor,” Benck says.

The Model 440 was the type of equipment Rich Benck had been selling in the late 1950s when he was working for a John Deere dealership’s newly created Industrial Division. The 440 was the company’s industrial version of the Model 435 tractor and was painted yellow.

It marked the company’s first diesel engine tractor and had a two-cylinder GM motor. Unlike the farm tractors, the 440 could be configured in various ways by such attachments as a backhoe or loader arms and bucket. There was also a crawler version, one of which West Side Tractor also has in its antique collection.

“They started making these products that they didn’t really have a clear focus on where they were going to wind up,” Benck says of Deere’s early foray into construction equipment. “So they took their base machine and turned it into kind of a Swiss Army knife. And then as time went on, they started making their own individual products out of these different base machines.”

As Deere’s Industrial Division expanded, Rich Benck got the opportunity to start a Deere dealership on Chicago’s West Side. Today, West Side Tractor has grown to 300 employees with 11 locations in Illinois, Indiana and Michigan.

1958 John Deere Model 440 backhoe loader sideWest Side Tractor SalesThroughout its history, the family has collected antique Deere tractors and equipment. Having grown up poor on a vegetable farm, Rich Benck had to deal with old tractors that were always breaking down. The family couldn’t afford the Deeres.

“As a child, they went from teams of horses to powered equipment,” Benck says. “He always held John Deere at a very high regard.”

In the mid-1970s, Rich Benck acquired a 1931 Deere Model D tractor. He and Benck’s older brother, Steve, restored the old machine. It has been in the family ever since. Benck learned to start it with its hand crank when he was 12.

In 2006, Benck further restored it and gave it to his father for Christmas.

“He was really impressed with that,” Benck says. “And that tractor is still sitting at our South Holland facility.”

Machines tell the story

1958 John Deere Model 440 backhoe loader outsideWest Side Tractor SalesAs West Side Tractor grew, so did the family’s antique equipment collection. They look for machines that represent the dealership’s early history. At their new Lisle headquarters opened in 2020, they established a museum that is open to the public. The collection includes the 1958 Model 440.

They also have vintage equipment on display at their other branches. In all, Benck says, the family has about 25 pieces of antique Deere equipment.

“I like to use these machines to explain our history,” Benck says.

They also use the equipment for fundraisers and to get youth involved in construction equipment history.

“It’s about passing on that lineage,” he says, “or having that first experience around these things you normally don’t see.”

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Cat’s Next Generation 255 and 265 Get More Power, Lift Height

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Caterpillar is bidding farewell to its 259D3, 279D3 and 289D3 compact track loaders with the introduction of its new, next-generation 255 and 266 models.

The completely redesigned models debuted at media and customer events at Caterpillar’s Edwards, Illinois, Demonstration and Learning Center last week. The 255 and 265 offer improved engine performance, more lift height, a roomier cab and more standard technology than their predecessors.

“We kept the DNA of the D3 series while reimagining the possibilities of loader performance using voice of customer feedback to lead the way,” says Trevor Chase, product application specialist for Caterpillar. “Both next-generation models leverage the many benefits offered by the vertical lift design. The new Cat 255 replaces the 259D3, while the 265 replaces both the 279D3 and 289D3 machines.”

The CTLs are the last of Cat’s building and construction products to get the next-generation treatment and simplified nomenclature. The first number (2) represents the skid steer loader and compact track loader machine family; the middle number (5 or 6) designates the machine size; and the ending number (5) is the compact track loader identifier. Skid steers will be identified by a 0 end number. Additional new models will roll out in the coming months, the company says.

Caterpillar 265 compact track loader carrying a blockCaterpillarMore power and torque

Cat equipped the 255 with a C2.8T engine and the 265 with a C2.8TA engine, both at 74 horsepower. This gives the new machines a significant boost in torque – 13% for the 255 and 43% for the 256 – over their D3-Series predecessors. The engine and cooling package are mounted lower in the frame for added visibility out the rear window and stability while lifting heavy loads.

Customers attest that the added lift height makes truck loading easier. The 255 offers 10 feet 4 inches of lift height, while the 265 can reach 11 feet high.

“The lift height has made a big difference when loading trucks,” said Derrick Roger, owner of Coast to Coast Lawnscapes, who spent several months testing the 255. “You can get on top of that truck now and empty the bucket; whereas, before you would have to shake the bucket to try to get the material to fall out.”

The 255 delivers 36% more tilt breakout, 26% higher lift breakout force and a 24% increase in rated operating capacity (ROC). The 265 also delivers 19% higher tilt breakout force and 22% higher lift breakout force.

Standard hydraulic pressure has been increased to 3,500 psi, allowing the 255 and 265 to operate all Cat Smart Attachments with the standard auxiliary hydraulics provided.

If demanding attachments require additional hydraulic flow, customers can have their Cat dealer activate the high flow functionality on the machine or remotely via software update. This makes it possible for the CTLs to hit 30 gallons per minute of flow at the standard system pressure.

A High Flow XPS factory option increases auxiliary hydraulic system pressure to 4,061 psi for both models, while also increasing the hydraulic flow to 30 gallons per minute for the 255 and 34 gallons per minute for the 265.

The torsion suspension undercarriage delivers better operator comfort, track wear and material retention, plus the stiffer design results in smoother graded surfaces, Cat says. A new 12.6-inch bar-tread narrow track option is available on the 255.

A more spacious cab

Cat says it has increased the cab width by 2.75 inches without making the machines wider and the footwell-to-ceiling height by 1.8 inches. The larger cab gives operators an additional 1.5 inches of hip room and 1.1 inches more width between the joysticks.

A range of new mechanical and air-ride suspension seat options are available, including a ventilated and heated seat. A new automatic temperature control allows operators to set a specific temperature. Relocated vents help cool or heat the machine quickly.

The standard package includes the same 5-inch LCD monitor as the D3 Series CTLs, which offers Bluetooth connectivity and functionality for the rearview camera feed, creep, job clock, and maintenance reminders.

Customers can upgrade to a new 8-inch advanced touchscreen monitor, like the display found in Cat’s next-generation mini excavators and small loaders. It delivers advanced radio control and supports the 270-degree multicamera option. The advanced monitor pairs with the advanced joysticks for integrated control of all machine functions and adjustments.

“You can adjust the movement – or the aggressiveness or the conservativeness – of how your tracks and lift arms work through your advanced touchscreen display,” Dante Thomas, skid steer and CTL marketing manager, said. “And you can control of all of your display functions from the advanced joysticks. There are buttons with enter and select functions on those joysticks that you’re able to change any functionality that is possible.”

Cat also redesigned the entry, making the 255 and 265 easier to enter and exit. The cab door can be opened even when the lift arms are not fully lowered to the frame stops. It can be removed without tools in less than one minute.

Advanced technologies

Calling the 255 and 265 “one of the most attachment-friendly machines on the market,” Thomas says both the standard and advanced monitors can run Cat Smart Attachments, such as the dozer and grader blades and backhoe.

“It has attachment recognition that when you plug the attachment into the machine, it recognizes which attachment is connected. It adjusts your joystick pattern, so it gives you intuitive and simple control,” says Thomas.

The available Cat Product Link Elite system tracks machine hours, location, asset utilization, provides fault code details and delivers advanced monitoring and machine health, that is remotely accessible via VisionLink. In addition, Product Link Elite provides remote flash and troubleshooting capabilities and quickly enables the remote activation of the SEA High Flow feature.

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Quick Data: 2023 Top-Selling Wheel Loaders and Auction Trends

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Quick Data is a snapshot of new and used wheel loader sales trends from Randall Reilly’s EDA equipment financing data, TopBid auction price service and EquipmentWatch market trend reports.

Demand for wheel loaders has softened with new and used financed wheel loader sales down year-over-year from August 1, 2022 to July 31, 2023 according to Randall Reilly’s EDA equipment financing data.

Financed new wheel loader sales dropped 10%, while used financed wheel loader sales fell by 15% compared to the same period last year.

Cat (22.4%), Deere (21.0%) and Komatsu (12.4%) held their positions year-over-year as the top three sellers of new financed wheel loaders. Top models sold included the Deere 544 P-Tier (401), Deere 624 P-Tier (380) and the Komatsu WA270-8 (364).

[Watch: “A Really Solid Machine” – Test Run of Komatsu’s WA475-10 Wheel Loader]

Cat (28.5%) and Deere (22.9%) also snagged the No. 1 and 2 positions for the highest number of financed used units sold, with Case (14.7%) claiming the third spot. On the date we examined the data, the top-selling models were the Case 321F (340), Cat 926M (164) and the Case 621G (159). 

During this period, there were more buyers of new loaders in Florida (955) than in any other state. Buyers of new wheel loaders were also prevalent in Texas (893) and Illinois (665). Those states were also top buyers of used financed machines, with 712 units sold in Texas, 413 in Florida, and 412 in Illinois.

EDA data is compiled from state UCC-1 filings on financed construction equipment. EDA continually updates this data as information comes in from each state.

[Related Content: A Rundown of the Latest Wheel Loaders for 2023]

Used Wheel Loader Market

Used wheel loader prices rose 10.1% for the 12-month period from August 1, 2022 to July 31, 2023, according to Randall Reilly’s EquipmentWatch market trend data.

The average price for a used wheel loader was $137,465 in July 2022 compared to $151,367 in July 2023. The average age of used wheel loaders fell slightly during the period, dropping from 8.8 years to 8.3 years.

EquipmentWatch Used wheel loader price and age chartEquipmentWatchThe average age and price were calculated on 153,356 resale listings during the period in the EquipmentWatch database.

Over the last 12 months, prices for used wheel loaders have in general increased, with the largest gains in October 2022 (6.5%) and February 2023 (2.9%).

EquipmentWatch defines fair market value (FMV) as the monetary value of an asset that can be expected in a transaction with a single seller and single buyer, neither of whom is under any compulsion or time restriction to complete the transaction. FMV for heavy equipment is most closely associated with the private resale market, as opposed to the public auction market.

Wheel Loader Auction Prices

Caterpillar also dominated the auction charts, accounting for 18 of the top 20 wheel loaders sold in terms of price for the 12-month period of September 1, 2022 to August 31, 2023. Deere and Komatsu were the only other manufacturers to appear on the list.

The top auction price spot went to a 2021 Cat 966M with 2,188 hours. It sold for $400,000 at a Ritchie Bros. auction in Orlando, Fla., on September 21, 2022. The second-highest price paid was $315,000 for a 2019 Cat 980M with 7,836 hours at another Ritchie Bros. sale in Atlanta, on December 1, 2022. Rounding out the top three was a 2018 Deere 944K with 8,941 hours. It sold for $290,00 at a J.M. Wood Auction Co. sale in Montgomery, Ala., on March 21, 2023.

In total, there were 358 wheel loaders sold at auctions tracked by Top Bid during this time, with an average price of $99,747. (This does not include any units sold for less than $5,000.)

EDA, Top Bid and EquipmentWatch are owned by Randall Reilly, parent of Equipment World.

[Related Content: Heavy Equipment Auctions Set for Second Half of 2023

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Video: A closer look at Rokbak articulated dump trucks

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Volvo Construction Equipment bought Terex’s off-road truck line in 2014, and six years later, it rebranded its articulated haulers under the Rokbak name.

On this episode of The Dirt, we hear from Paul Douglas, Volvo vice president of rigid haulers, who explains the differences between the old Terex line and the Rokbak trucks. He also gives a hint at some of the new things coming from Rokbak, including redesigned cabs and replacing the current trucks with new models. There’s also the possibility of a new size truck to hit the market.

Rokbak, as with other construction equipment brands, is working toward a zero-emissions future. On this episode, he explains where the articulated dump truck market is heading in terms of alternative fuel. He adds that customers will see big changes in emissions and engines in the next five years, with the ultimate goal of reaching zero emissions within 10 years.

So to learn more about Rokbak and what the brand has in store for the future, check out this episode of The Dirt.  

Equipment World serves up weekly videos on the latest in construction equipment, work trucks and pickup trucks – everything contractors need to get their work done. Subscribe and visit us at equipmentworld.com!

In This Episode:

  • 00:00 – Rokbak Articulated Haulers
  • 00:30 – Is Rokbak More Reliable Than Terex?
  • 03:22 – Brand New Cab
  • 06:10 – More Changes to Upcoming Rokbak Trucks
  • 09:20 – What Will Rokbak Do in the Next 2-5 Years?
  • 11:24 – What Alternative Fuel Will Rokbak Haulers Use in the Future?
  • 14:53 – Final Thoughts

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